1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to receivers capable of determining position information of satellites and, in particular, relates to such receivers which find application in satellite positioning systems (SPS) such as the U.S. global positioning satellite (GPS) systems.
2. Background Art
GPS receivers normally determine their position by computing relative times of arrival of signals transmitted simultaneously from a multiplicity of GPS (or NAVSTAR) satellites. These satellites transmit, as part of their message, both satellite positioning data as well as data on clock timing, so-called xe2x80x9cephemerisxe2x80x9d data. The process of searching for and acquiring GPS signals, reading the ephemeris data for a multiplicity of satellites and computing the location of the receiver from this data is time consuming, often requiring several minutes. In many cases, this lengthy processing time is unacceptable and, furthermore, greatly limits battery life in micro-miniaturized portable applications.
Another limitation of current GPS receivers is that their operation is limited to situations in which multiple satellites are clearly in view, without obstructions, and where a good quality antenna is properly positioned to receive such signals. As such, they normally are unusable in portable, body mounted applications; in areas where there is significant foliage or building blockage; and in in-building applications.
There are two principal functions of GPS receiving systems: (1) computation of the pseudoranges to the various GPS satellites, and (2) computation of the position of the receiving platform using these pseudoranges and satellite timing and ephemeris data. The pseudoranges are simply the time delays measured between the received signal from each satellite and a local clock. The satellite ephemeris and timing data is extracted from the GPS signal once it is acquired and tracked. As stated above, collecting this information normally takes a relatively long time (30 seconds to several minutes) and must be accomplished with a good received signal level in order to achieve low error rates.
Virtually all known GPS receivers utilize correlation methods to compute pseudoranges. These correlation methods are performed in real time, often with hardware correlators. GPS signals contain high rate repetitive signals called pseudorandom (PN) sequences. The codes available for civilian applications are called C/A codes, and have a binary phase-reversal rate, or xe2x80x9cchippingxe2x80x9d rate, of 1.023 MHz and a repetition period of 1023 chips for a code period of 1 msec. The code sequences belong to a family known as Gold codes. Each GPS satellite broadcasts a signal with a unique Gold code.
For a signal received from a given GPS satellite, following a downconversion process to baseband, a correlation receiver multiplies the received signal by a stored replica of the appropriate Gold code contained within its local memory, and then integrates, or lowpass filters, the product in order to obtain an indication of the presence of the signal. This process is termed a xe2x80x9ccorrelationxe2x80x9d operation. By sequentially adjusting the relative timing of this stored replica relative to the received signal, and observing the correlation output, the receiver can determine the time delay between the received signal and a local clock. The initial determination of the presence of such an output is termed xe2x80x9cacquisition.xe2x80x9d Once acquisition occurs, the process enters the xe2x80x9ctrackingxe2x80x9d phase in which the timing of the local reference is adjusted in small amounts in order to maintain a high correlation output The correlation output during the tracking phase may be viewed as the GPS signal with the pseudorandom code removed, or, in common terminology, xe2x80x9cdespread.xe2x80x9d This signal is narrow band, with bandwidth commensurate with a 50 bit per second binary phase shift keyed data signal which is superimposed on the GPS waveform.
The correlation acquisition process is very time consuming, especially if received signals are weak. To improve acquisition time, many GPS receivers utilize a multiplicity of correlators (up to 12 typically) which allows a parallel search for correlation peaks.
Another approach to improve acquisition time is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,118, referred to as the xe2x80x9cTaylor patent.xe2x80x9d This approach uses the transmission of Doppler information from a control basestation to a remote GPS receiver unit in order to aid in GPS signal acquisition. While this approach does improve acquisition time, the Doppler information is transmitted from a basestation to a mobile GPS receiver by a point to point transmission system, and there is no indication of how this Doppler information is obtained.
An approach for improving the accuracy of the position determination by a remote GPS receiver unit is also described in the Taylor patent. In the Taylor patent, a stable frequency reference is transmitted to a remote GPS receiver unit from a basestation in order to eliminate a source of error due to a poor quality local oscillator at the remote GPS receiver unit. This method uses a special frequency shift keyed (FSK) signal that must be situated in frequency very close to the GPS signal frequency. As shown in FIG. 4 of the Taylor patent, the special FSK signal is about 20 MHz below the 1575 MHz GPS signal which is also received by the receiver in order to demodulate the GPS satellite signals from the GPS satellites so as to extract satellite position data Moreover, the approach described in the Taylor patent uses a common mode rejection mechanism in which any error in the local oscillator (shown as L.O. 52) of the receiver will appear in both the GPS channel and the reference channel and hence be canceled out. There is no attempt to detect or measure this error. This approach is sometimes referred to as a homodyne operation. While this approach provides some advantages, it requires that the two channels be closely matched, including closely matched in frequency. Moreover, this approach requires that both frequencies remain fixed, so frequency hopping or frequency tuning (channelization) techniques are not compatible with this approach.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method is described for reducing processing time due to Doppler error in a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver having a cell based communication receiver. The method includes determining an approximate location of the SPS receiver from a cell based information source. This approximate location is determined by using at least one of a location of a cellular service area which includes a cell site which is capable of communicating with the cell based communication receiver or a location of the cell site itself. The method further includes determining an approximate Doppler for at least one SPS satellite relative to the SPS receiver, where the approximate Doppler is based upon the approximate location. This approximate Doppler is used in the SPS receiver to reduce processing time in either determining at least one pseudorange to the at least one SPS satellite, or in acquiring signals from the at least one SPS satellite.
An exemplary embodiment of this method is a cellular telephone which includes a GPS receiver. The cellular telephone operates by communicating with cell sites, each of which are connected to a cellular switching center. A database, which represents a cellular based information source, may be maintained at the cellular switching center or at the cell site or at a remote processing station, which may be termed a xe2x80x9cserver,xe2x80x9d may be used to determine an approximate location of the cellular telephone based upon the cell site (or cellular service area) with which the cellular telephone is communicating. This approximate location may then be used to derive an approximate Doppler relative to the various SPS satellites which are transmitting SPS signals to the GPS receiver in the cellular telephone. This approximate Doppler is then transmitted in one embodiment from the cell site to the cellular telephone, and is then used in the GPS receiver in order to reduce processing time due to Doppler induced effects in the GPS receiver.
A further embodiment of this aspect of the present invention is a data processing station which includes a processor and a storage device coupled to the processor, and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The transceiver is for coupling the data processing station to a wireless cell site. The storage device contains information specifying at least one approximate Doppler at a given time for an approximate location which is determined by at least one of a location of a cellular service area which includes the wireless cell site or a location of the wireless cell site itself. The transceiver receives a site information which determines the approximate location, and the processor determines an approximate Doppler for at least one SPS satellite which is in view of said approximate location. The approximate Doppler is based upon the approximate location. The transceiver sends this approximate Doppler to the wireless cell site which then transmits the approximate Doppler to a cell based communication receiver which is coupled to an SPS receiver.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method for providing a local oscillator signal in a mobile satellite positioning system receiver. The method includes receiving a signal having a carrier frequency and a data signal modulated on the carrier frequency, extracting a reference signal from the data signal modulated on the carrier frequency, and using the reference signal to provide a local oscillator signal to acquire SPS signals from SPS satellites.
Another embodiment according to this aspect of the present invention, is a combined SPS receiver and communication system. The communication system includes an acquisition and tracking circuitry which is coupled to an antenna to receive the communication signals. This acquisition and tracking circuitry acquires and tracks the data signal which is modulated onto a carrier frequency and provides a reference signal from the data signal modulated on the carrier frequency. The reference signal is then provided to a phaselock loop or to a frequency synthesizer in order to generate a local oscillator signal which is used to acquire SPS signals in the SPS receiver.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method for determining a position of an SPS receiver having a wireless cell based transmitter is described. This method includes determining an approximate location of the SPS receiver from a cell based information source. The approximate location is determined by at least one of a location of a cellular service area which includes a wireless cell site which is capable of communicating with the cell based transmitter or a location of the wireless cell site. The SPS receiver receives a source of SPS signals and determines a plurality of pseudorange data and transmits this plurality of pseudorange data to the wireless cell site. Then a position of the SPS receiver is computed by using the SPS signals, the plurality of pseudoranges and the approximate location. In this method, the approximate location is used to facilitate convergence of the position calculation.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing Doppler information to an SPS receiver is described. In this method, a plurality of approximate Doppler data from an approximate location is determined. This approximate location is based upon at least one of a location of a wireless cell site or a location of a cellular service area which includes the wireless cell site. The plurality of approximate Doppler data is for a corresponding plurality of satellites. The method further includes broadcasting the plurality of approximate Doppler data from a wireless cell transmitter of the wireless cell site to a plurality of SPS receivers in a cell serviced by the wireless cell site. Typically, at least in one embodiment, the cell site would then receive a plurality of pseudoranges and would forward these pseudoranges to a remote processing station in which the position of the SPS receiver is computed using the SPS signals and the pseudoranges.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing satellite information to an SPS receiver is described. This method includes determining an approximate location from a cellular based information source and determining a plurality of satellite ephemeris data for a corresponding plurality of satellites which are in view of the approximate location. The method further includes transmitting the plurality of satellite ephemeris data from a wireless cellular transmitter of the wireless cell site to an SPS receiver in a cell serviced by the wireless cell site.
In yet another aspect of the present invention the approximate location, which is derived from a cell based information source, is used to select a particular set of differential GPS correction data.
Various embodiments of apparatuses which can perform the various methods described above are also described herein.